It's gotta be tough being Dave Murray

Well, given that Dave is, alongside 'Arry, the only member of Maiden to have played on every single album, I think it's easy to see that being Dave Murray isn't as tough as one would think.
 
GhostofCain said:
I refer you to the interview I posted in response to the original comment on which Bruce explained how he wrote the song. Straight from the horse's mouth. ;)

http://www.metal-rules.com/metalnew...ere-back-in-time-the-powerslave-interviews/3/
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Just know that Bruce is Bruce. He claimed he had "The Talisman" down in an hour (in Sweden Rock Magazine I believe) and then Shirley called it a nightmare to compile the lead vocal for (basically edit the different takes together) in his Studio Diary, specifically stressing that some people like to boast, IIRC. Point is, he likes to seem impressive. I don't for a second think he had it 'all worked out'. (I would like to hear that demo...)
 
Maturin said:
Just know that Bruce is Bruce. He claimed he had "The Talisman" down in an hour (in Sweden Rock Magazine I believe) and then Shirley called it a nightmare to compile the lead vocal for (basically edit the different takes together) in his Studio Diary, specifically stressing that some people like to boast, IIRC. Point is, he likes to seem impressive. I don't for a second think he had it 'all worked out'. (I would like to hear that demo...)
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I think you are reading too much into this:

Kevin Shirley in his studio diaries said:
March 4, 2010 Malibu, California
Started compiling a lead vocal on The Talisman. It was a nightmare to compile! Adrian dropped in late afternoon to pick up a CD of the mixes thus far.
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No mention to any boasting as far as I can see. :confused: I have not read the Sweden Rock Magazine interview, so I cannot comment on that though.

Bottom line is Bruce wrote Powerslave alone; he would not have got a songwriting credit on his own if any of the other band member had contributed significantly to the song (he is no Steve Harris, who got away with that on the first three albums :p). He could have whistled the melodies/solos that he could not write himself...
 
In addition to hearing Dave Murray penned songs live I really hope he writes more songs on the next album and gets more song writing credits than Adrian and Janick. They all have written phenomenal songs but its Dave's turn for once. Dave should either do a side project with another musician with Geoff Tate or a solo album like Tony Iommi's first album which had many guests.
 
Murray's biggest involvement in an album was Brave New World

The Nomad
Brave New World
The Thin Line Between Love and Hate

of course, only one made it live... I think Brave New World is the only Murray song that still lives on too
 
I love Dave, he is essential to the Iron Maiden sound but let's be honest, he's not that a great songwriter.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love some of his songs like Rainmaker or Still life and The Nomad among others.
But it is certainly little compared to what Steve, Bruce, Adrian and even Janick have composed.
Janick is frowned upon by many fans but his contribution to songwriting have been huge, more so than Dave.

I'd love to have more of his songs in the setlist but I totally get why many of his songs are not played anymore.
 
ManuelMaiden95 said:
I love Dave, he is essential to the Iron Maiden sound but let's be honest, he's not that a great songwriter.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love some of his songs like Rainmaker or Still life and The Nomad among others.
But it is certainly little compared to what Steve, Bruce, Adrian and even Janick have composed.
Janick is frowned upon by many fans but his contribution to songwriting have been huge, more so than Dave.

I'd love to have more of his songs in the setlist but I totally get why many of his songs are not played anymore.
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The amount is little. So what?

Somewhere in Time would not be the same without its Deja-Vu. Seventh Son would not be the same without The Prophecy. Brave New World would not be the same without its title track, for God's sake. No Prayer for the Dying would not be the same without Public Enema Number One and Fates Warning. Fear of the Dark would not be the same without Judas Be My Guide. Virtual XI would not be the same without Lightning Strikes Twice. The Book of Souls would not be the same without The Man of Sorrows. The Man of Sorrows was a difficult song to record in the studio and also it's probably hard to do live. I bet the same goes for e.g. The Prophecy and Deja-Vu. Hard to do stuff. In fact, his material was too good to be in the setlist.

The quantity of written songs has nothing to do (should have nothing to do) with individual quality of these songs and with their chance of being in the setlist.
 
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This Judy Collins album cover is why it's tough being Dave Murray:

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Forostar said:
The amount is little. So what?

Somewhere in Time would not be the same without its Deja-Vu. Seventh Son would not be the same without The Prophecy. Brave New World would not be the same without its title track, for God's sake. No Prayer for the Dying would not be the same without Public Enema Number One and Fates Warning. Fear of the Dark would not be the same without Judas Be My Guide. Virtual XI would not be the same without Lightning Strikes Twice. The Book of Souls would not be the same without The Man of Sorrows. The Man of Sorrows was a difficult song to record in the studio and also it's probably hard to do live. I bet the same goes for e.g. The Prophecy and Deja-Vu. Hard to do stuff. In fact, his material was too good to be in the setlist.

The quantity of written songs has nothing to do (should have nothing to do) with individual quality of these songs and with their chance of being in the setlist.
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Of course the albums wouldn't be the same, we know the albums have that song on it. If they released say No Prayer without Fates Warning no one would think "There is no song by Dave called Fates Warning here!". Having said that, some of his songs are terrific and amongst the most important tunes on the albums they've been on. Still Life, Brave New World and The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg are some of the defining songs on Piece of Mind, Brave New World and AMOLAD.

And I don't think they find his material too good to be in the setlist. Maybe a bit complicated, but that's not the same as too good.
 
Poto said:
Of course the albums wouldn't be the same, we know the albums have that song on it. If they released say No Prayer without Fates Warning no one would think "There is no song by Dave called Fates Warning here!". Having said that, some of his songs are terrific and amongst the most important tunes on the albums they've been on. Still Life, Brave New World and The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg are some of the defining songs on Piece of Mind, Brave New World and AMOLAD.

And I don't think they find his material too good to be in the setlist. Maybe a bit complicated, but that's not the same as too good.
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Don't forget "Rainmaker"! :)
 
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